Late Tuesday evening, USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service issued a voluntary recall of 18,416 pounds of boneless, fully cooked ham products that may be contaminated with Listeria produced by Carolina Pride Foods Inc. headquartered in Greenwood, South Carolina. Vice President of Sales, Lee Miles:
“There’s only one item in grocery stores, and it will only be a couple of stores, a very, very small amount, and that’s a 10oz package of diced ham.”
Miles clarifies that the Listeria is a potential contamination:
“Well, it’s potential, yes, and QC saw something that caused the recall. And so, at this point, it’s a ‘potential’ listeria.”
While the distribution of products was mostly institutional, and Carolina Pride feels that the products have already been absorbed into the system, there is one potential risk according to Miles:
“A long as the product is cooked, there’s no risk for anything at all, but if someone would happen to eat it right out of the package, and that doesn’t mean it’s contaminated, but that’s the only risk. Once you cook it, it’s fine.”
The production date was May 13, 2011.
White House Meeting to Discuss Debt Limit
Republican Senator Mitch McConnell says he's accepted the President's invitation to come to the White House today to find common ground on reducing spending and raising the debt limit.
“It’s an opportunity to see if the President is finally willing to agree on a serious plan to pay our bills without killing jobs in the process.”
Legislation to Allow Oil Exploration off of Virginia’s Coast Introduced
Sens. Mark Warner and Jim Webb are introducing legislation to allow oil and gas exploration off Virginia's coast and to direct half of any leasing revenues to the state. The legislation introduced Wednesday would also expand the area of exploration off the state's coast.
Iraq 4-H Program Growing
Thanks to the perseverance of one USDA employee, Mary Kerstetter, a 4-H program is now growing in Iraq. After arriving in Iraq’s Anbar province in April 2009, Kerstetter realized that if she could help establish a 4-H program in Iraq, it would give Iraqi children opportunities to learn new skills, which would ultimately help them, achieve a brighter future.
Since Iraq has more sheep than any other kind of livestock, the first 4-H clubs centered on teaching youth how to properly tend to sheep.
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